MILK and CALCIUM Is milk really so bad?

[Lorien]

Ds1 and DS2 tend to drink around half a litre of milk a day, and I'm in two minds whether to do anything about it. Can anyone out there help? What I would really like to know is
1: Is cows milk proven to affect pH levels in the body and actually cause calcium reduction? I was trawling through other threads and saw a reference to SofiaAmes' dad, Bruce Ames, who has done serious research in this field, but I think that thread must have been archived -- anyone know what he had to say?
2: What are the alternatives to cows milk? I find a bewildering variety in my local health food store -- soya milk, rice milk to name but a few...
. But I don't suppose they have much in the way of calcium

Anyway, all advice very warmly received. Lorien

Neither soya milk or rice milk contain calcium, but it is often added. Don't know about rice milk, but soya milk at least tastes disgusting so you have to add sugar - v bad for the teeth.

I don't think that half a litre a day is too much milk, but you could just cut down a little and give water instead if you're worried (unless you live in a soft water area, the water itself does contain some calcium). Isn't half a litre a day the recommended amount anyway?

I don't have any advice but I think this is the thread you're after.

HTH

Soya milk also has high levels of aluminium in it (apparently!)

Eh, i though that drinking lots of milk was good for you ??? I drink loads of milk at the moment. My ds drinks 2 8 ounce bottles a day too.

All the research shows that children who drink milk have fewer fractures and better bone density that those who don't.

There is an issue that the calcium in milk is not well absorbed.
Also our bodies will only take what ever they need so drinking gallons won't make any difference...

Milk is fime in the basic mean... when kids eat yoghurts, milkshakes and other dairy rich foods then you can safely cut the milk down, my DS now aged 10 has 250mls alone on his Weetbix!!

DH is an insulin dependent diabetic diagnosed age 7. I read for the first time yesterday about the link between milk and diabetes in genetically susceptible children and am getting concerned as DD has a fair amount of milk and yoghurts, as she's on the thin side I've always felt she would benefit from the fat. I'm going to look into this but wondered if anyone else had seen anything that would be helpful? (I read the link on the other thread mentioned by gingernut).

vaguely remember this- but the protein in milk has changed from one type to another which is meant to then cause problems with autism. Autism is autoimmune - as of course is type 1 diabetes, so it might be worth doing a search. I think they are breeding cows in NZ which produce the safe protein.

Sorry very vague, so sounds mad.